● RBI on 24 August announced that it would issue Rs 200 notes on 25 August, 2017
● State Bank of India group chief economic advisor calls the Rs 200 note, the “missing middle”.
● Post demonetisation, five new currency notes have been announced, including 24 August announcement -- Rs 2,000, Rs 500, Rs 200, Rs 50, and Re 1.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 24 August said it will issue new Rs 200 denomination banknotes from select RBI offices and some banks on 25 August, 2017. However, experts said the new Rs 200 note may not be available through ATMs as they will have to be recalibrated to accommodate the new note.
The new denomination has Motif of ‘Sanchi Stupa’ on the reverse, depicting the country’s cultural heritage. The base colour of the note is bright yellow. The note has other designs, geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme, both at the obverse and reverse. The notes will be in the Mahatma Gandhi (new) Series, bearing the signature of RBI Governor Urjit R Patel, the RBI said.
The Rs 200 note will be available at bank branches like the way Rs 20 and Rs 50 notes are distributed. “Since the length of the new Rs 200 currency is different from the existing currency in circulation, cassette calibration is required to be done. ATM manufacturers need to do a complete testing of the new Rs 200 denomination currency and provide the parameters which need to be configured at the ATM by an engineer. At the ATM switch level, we will require to do switch configuration and complete testing of new 200 denomination currency before implementation,” Himanshu Pujara, managing director, Euronet Services India Pvt Ltd.
After the introduction of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes in November-December 2016, ATMs across the country were calibrated on a war footing amid a currency shortage as close to 86 per cent of the currency in circulation was withdrawn in the wake of demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. The ATM recalibration delayed the supply of notes, creating chaos in bank branches across the country. The introduction of a new currency denomination (Rs 200) and design is done keeping in consideration various factors like ease of transactions for the common man, replacement of soiled banknotes, inflation and the need for combating counterfeiting, the RBI said.
